Brian Marnie, a self-employed driver for Tele & Handys Taxis of Balgray Place, Dundee is the first driver to own a fully electric wheelchair access taxi in the Tayside & Fife area.
Dundee has positioned itself as a pioneering city for working to reduce carbon emissions and recently built the first charging hub station for electric cars – Mr Marnie looks to have made a wise investment, especially considering the benefits of possessing an electric car for personal or business use:
– £0 road tax (personal use)
– £0 company car tax (business use) from April 2020
– £0 congestion charges
– £0 fuel costs
– Zero c02 emissions
– 8 year / 100k battery warranty
The first of its kind on the UK electric market, this taxi vehicle accommodates any wheelchair size.
Battery range
The 100% Electric, Zero Emissions Wheelchair Access Hackney conversion by Vic Young (South Shields) Ltd, has a range of up to 124 – 187 miles on a single charge and is powered by a 40kWh lithium-ion battery. Drivers are guaranteed peace of mind with a battery warranty of 8 year / 100,000 miles.
Owner Brian Marnie said “I’m excited to own the first fully-electric wheelchair access van – it will provide me with a great vehicle that allows me to transport wheelchair users to their destination, with the added fact that I’m doing my bit for climate change as well as potentially saving my business thousands in fuel and tax costs.”
Charging times
Supermarkets and service stations with rapid chargers will charge the Electric Wheelchair Access Hackney from 20% battery to 100% in approximately 45-60 minutes. In 7.5 hours you can charge the vehicle to 100% using the ‘fast home charger of 7kWh’. It can also be charged via a typical 3-pin mains plug in 11-18 hours. Averagely, the cost per electric car mile is 4.78p.
Vic Young, managing director of Vic Young (South Shields) Ltd, said: “I am extremely proud to be helping provide cleaner transportation for the disabled community. If I’m helping wheelchair users to tackle climate change in some way through the use of our electric vehicles then I’m very pleased.”
Electric MG car hopefully coming to Motability scheme
Vic Young ltd have also been an MG dealer since 2017. MG Motors recently launched their first ever fully electric car. The MG ZS EV is powered by a 44.5kWh, water-cooled lithium-ion battery and has a typical range of between 163 – 230 miles on a single charge. The MG ZS EV has picked up a lot of interest as it is the lowest price electric SUV car on the market – with models starting from £22,495. On the Motability scheme all MG vehicles are £0 advance payment except for the MG HS which has a maximum advance payment of £999 for the top spec model in automatic. With the price of MG ZS EV being close to the MG HS in terms of RRP price – the Vic Young Motability team are keen to see if the advance payment for the electric MG will be similarly low when it is launched on the scheme. It is hoped the MG ZS EV will be announced on Motability by summer 2020.